Variable fluid passage



Jan. 20, 1948. R. s. COLLEY 2,434,335

VARIABLE FLUID PASSAGE Filed May 4, 1946 I3 22 Z I 32 26 I8 lo 15.

l L I I I g 19 I I2 Patented Jan. 20, 1948 VARIABLE FLUID PASSAGE Russell S. Culley, Kent, Ohio, assignor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 4, 1946, Serial No. 661,339 8 Claims. (Cl. 138-45) This invention relates to apparatus for the passage of fluid and especially to Venturi tubes where it is desirable to provide means for varyin the throat area thereof.

Objects of the invention are to provide for improved regulation of the flow of fluids in a passage; to provide for facilitating flow of fluid; to provide for adjustability of the throat area of the passage throughout a wide range; and to provide simplicity of construction, convenience of manufacture and effectiveness of operation.

A further object is to provide a Venturi tube with an improved arrangement for varying the throat area thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is an elevation of apparatus constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention, parts being broken away. i

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the Venturi throat in the open position.

Fig. 3, is a longitudinal section of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 taken along the line 33 in Fig, 4.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line i-i in Fig. 3 showing the Venturi throat in a partially contracted position,

Fig. 5 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of one of the adjusting elements, parts being sectioned and broken away.

In accordance-with the invention a fluid passage is provided consisting of an annular throat formed of a resilient material such as rubber or other rubber-like material, which may be in sheet form, adapted to be inserted and held as a tubular liner in a sleeve structure and to provide a passage of maximum area therethrough, special mechanism being provided to contract the liner adjustably for reducing the passage throat area therein. The reduction of the throat area of the passage in the illustrated embodiment of the in-- vention is accomplished by the restricting action upon the liner of a system of elements fastened to two sleeve members, one of which is rotatable with relation to the other.

With reference to the drawings a throat section I 0 is mounted between two sections of conduit I I and i2. Two flanged collars l3 and M of the throat section It are mounted telescopically in the sections of conduit Id and I2. Both the flanged collars l3 and I4 may be fixedly mounted as with rivets to the conduit sections II and l2.

cables 25 as However, it is preferred that one flanged collar l3 shall be rotatable with relation to the adjacent section of conduit It as will be hereinafter discussed, the other collar ld being riveted to the conduit section H as at It. The flanged collars l3 and it are mounted with flanges thereof abutting the flanges of two telescopically connected flanged sleeves, l6 and I? so that the flange of the outer sleeve iii abuts the movable collar l3 and the flange of the inner sleeve ll abuts the fixed collar M. A handle iii mounted on the outer sleeve wall it facilitates rotation of the outer sleeve it about the inner sleeve ii. A tubular lining I9 is inserted in the sleeves l5 and ll and may have beaded end edges 20 and El which are clamped between the flanges of the sleeves l6 and ill and the collars it and M, respectively, as by bolts 22 passing through holes 23 in the flanges. The inner sleeve I! is shorter in length than the outer sleeve it and has an inner rim 24.

To contract the lining, restricting elements of flexible strip material, such as cables 25, are used. The cables 25 are placed between the lining and sleeves at circumferentially spaced-apart positions and are mounted so that relative rotation of the sleeves l6 and Il causes the cables 25 to converge centrally. To attain these results each cable 25 is secured at one end to the inner sleeve rim 2d and at the other end to the outer sleeve l6 wall. Metal knobs 26 clamped to the ends of the shown in Fig. 5 hold the cables 25 in the holes 21 in the inner sleeve rim 24 and outer sleeve wall I 6.

Each cable extends through a part circumference of the structure as will be seen in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 wherein one of the cables 25 has an end secured to the inner rim 24 at M and an opposite end secured to the outer sleeve It at a position N. In the movement of the parts from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 4 the first-mentioned end at M remains in the same position while the other end is shifted to the position The other cables 25 each extending part way about the lining, all shift correspondingly.

The relative rotation of the sleeves I 6 and i1 Which takes place in the operation of the illustrated embodiment of the invention necessitates the relative rotation of the collars l3 and I4 fixedly mounted on the sleeves. If both the collars l3 and H were fixedly mounted to the sections of .N in Fig. 4.

conduit II and I2, provision for the relative rotation of the sections of conduits l2 and i3 would be necessary. Since relative movement of the sections of conduit 1 I and I2 is undesirable in many installations, preferably only one collar i4 is fixedly mounted to the conduit section II, the other collar l3 being mounted rotatably in the section l2.

To obtain different Venturi shapes the cables 25 may be disposed at points other than in the longitudinal center region of the throat section II], and if desired the lengths of the cables 25 may be varied. When the cables 25 are of the same length and mounted similarly the contracted orifice resulting from the relative rotation of the sleeves l6 and i? will tend to be coaxial with the axes of the sleeves l6 and H. However, in some cases, if desired, the lengths of the cables 25 need not be the same in which cases the contracted orifice resulting from the rotation of the sleeves l6 and i1 will tend to be ofi center.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 the disposition of the cables 25 and lining l9-at the maximum throat area position is shown. When the outer sleeve i6 is turned clockwise as shown in Fig, 2, as by means of the handle 58, one end of each cable 25 will move around the lining i9 causing the cables 25 to wrap around and urge the lining l9 away from the sleeve walls i6 and i1. During this operation one lining edge will rotate relative to the other 2! thereby stretching and twisting the lining is. This action of the lining l9 plus the stretching caused by the increase in length of the lining l9 as the throat area is decreased will tend to reduce the'wall thickness and compensate, in part at least, for the tendency of the wall to increase in thickness as a result of the reduction in cross-section of the tube, thus minimizing or avoiding objectionable wrinkling.

From the position of maximum throat area as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 the throat area may be reduced and finally fully contracted by turnl ing the outer sleeve 16 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2. Conversely the throat area may be increased from the fully contracted position by turning the outer sleeve I6 in the counterclockwise direction which will cause the cables 25 to unwind from the lining I9 and the lining i9 twist to be reduced. When these deforming forces acting on the lining l9 are diminished the resiliency of the lining l9 material will act to return it to the normal condition at the maximum throat area position. It is evident from the above description that any intermediate throat area may be attained between the maximum throat area position and the fully contracted position by turning the outer sleeve it an amount less than that required to change from full contraction to maximum area of the throat, and in all positions of adjustment, the stressed resilient sleeve provides a continuous surface of the passage, both longitudinally and circumferentially.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

Iclaim:

1. A fluid passage comprising a pair of relatively movable sleeves, a flexible lining mounted in said sleeves, and means for moving a portion of said lining to change the area of the passage, saidmeans comprising a plurality of elements at the outside of said lining, each element being secured to both said relatively movable sleeves.

2. A fluid passage comprising a pair of relatively movable sleeves, a resilient lining mounted in said sleeves, and means for advancing a portion of said lining toward an opposite portion of the passage to reduce the area of the passage, said means comprising a plurality of elements at the outside of said lining, each element being secured to both said relatively movable sleeves.

3. A fluid passage comprising a pair of relatively rotatable sleeves, a resilient lining mounted in said sleeves, and means for advancing a portion of said lining toward an opposite portion of the passage to reduce the area of the passage, said means comprising a plurality of elements at the outside of said lining, each element being secured to both said relatively rotatable sieeves.

4. A fluid passage comprising a pair of relatively rotatable sleeves, a tubular resilient lining in said sleeves secured at longitudinally spacedapart positions to both said sleeves, and means for advancing an intermediate portion of said lining toward an opposite portion of the lining to reduce the area of the passage, said means comprising a plurality of elements at the outside of said lining, each element being secured to both said rotatab-e sleeves.

5. A fluid passage comprising a pair of relatively rotatable sleeves mounted in telescopic relation, a tubular resilient lining mounted in said sleeves and means for advancing a portion of said lining toward an opposite portion thereof to reduce the area of the passage, said means comprising a plurality of elongated flexible elements disposed at the outside of said lining and secured to both said rotatable sleeves.

6. A fluid passage comprising a pair of relatively rotatable telescopically associated sleeves, a resilient lining mounted at longitudinally spaced-apart positions in both said sleeves and means for advancing a portion of said lining toward an opposite portion thereof to reduce the area of the passage, said means comprising a plurality of flexible strip elements attached to both sleeves at circumferentialiy spaced-apart positions embracing the lining to effect constriction of said elements and reduction of the area of said passage upon relative rotation of said sleeves.

7. A variable fluid passage for sections of conduit comprising a pair of relatively rotatable telescopically associated sleeves, means for mounting said sleeves in said sections of conduit for relative rotation f one of said sleeves with respect to a section of the conduit, a resilient lining secured at longitudinally spaced-apart positions to both said sleeves and means for adjusting said lining to various degrees of convergence, said means comprising a plurality of flexible strip elements secured to both said sleeves at circumferentially spaced-apart positions and embracing the lining to effect constriction of said elements and reduction of the area of said passage upon relative rotation of said sleeves.

8. A variable fluid passage for sections of conduit, said passage comprising a pair of sleeves each flanged at one end thereof and fitting one within the other with the inner sleeve terminating short of the flanged end of the outer sleeve and having an inner rim thereon, flanged collars for mounting theflanged sleeves on sections of conduit such that the flanges of the collars abut the flanged ends of the sleeves, a tubular resilient lining with beaded end edges clamped between the flanged ends of said sleeves and the flanges of said collars, and a plurality of cable elements embracing said lining, saidcable elements having and release of said constriction upon relative rotation of said sleeves in the opposite direction. I

RUSSELL B. COLLEY.

REFERENCES crrnn The following references are oi record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Rebourg Nov. 29, 1910 Hunter Oct. 15, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Number Great Britain Aug. 1, 1908 

